Think Again About HIV

Think Again About HIV

Most HIV infections in gay guys in the last year came from men who didn’t know their status [2].

If someone doesn’t tell you that he’s HIV-positive, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is HIV-negative. Most of the time when we have sex we don’t actually talk about HIV at all. This is true of men with HIV as well as of men who have not been diagnosed. HIV is associated with fear and stigma, so if you are positive, you might not want to be open about your status because you could get rejected, or because you don’t want other people to gossip about you.

In some cases, if you are about to have bareback sex with someone and he is HIV-positive, he might assume that you are as well. Similarly, a negative guy might expect that the guy he’s about to have sex with is also negative if a condom is not used. Making assumptions about someone else’s HIV status based on their sexual behaviour is not a reliable way of preventing transmission.

One in every three gay guys living in the UK, diagnosed with HIV in the last year, is in his teens and 20s [1].

It’s easy to think that HIV won’t happen to you. Some guys don't see HIV as a relevant health issue for them and others even believe that there’s a cure. Because medication has got much better at treating people with HIV it’s now fairly rare to see people with visible symptoms of HIV. The truth is that HIV can happen to anyone, at any age; it doesn’t matter if you are 16 or 86.

Two thirds of HIV-positive guys got HIV from their boyfriend or someone they regularly have sex with [3].

The more guys you shag, the more chances you have of coming into contact with HIV – that’s simple maths right there. However, if you are really careful about the sex you have, you can have sex with as many guys as you like and remain HIV-negative. Many guys in a relationship stop using condoms with their boyfriends and, because of this, it's now thought that the majority of HIV transmission takes place within relationships. This may be because one partner had HIV at the beginning of the relationship and didn’t realise or because a partner became HIV-positive during the relationship from sex that he had with someone else.

Protecting yourself and your sexual partner, or partners, is important no matter how many people you have sex with. Branding people living with HIV as ‘sluts’ isn’t just inaccurate, it also feeds into the stigma and fear associated with being HIV-positive and can make people feel afraid to talk about their status for fear of rejection. All of this can prevent us from having open and honest conversations about our sexual health and about HIV. If you’ve recently started a new relationship and would like to stop using condoms, you can get advice and a full sexual health screening, including an HIV-test in your nearest GUM clinic.

GMFA currently receives no financial support from local or national Government funding for its HIV prevention work. The Think Again campaign, GMFA’s website and FS Magazine are all funded by the support and generosity of individuals from the gay community, and the men and women who value this community. This support is vital in enabling us to continue providing gay men with the information they need to live happy, healthier lives. To make a donation, go to:www.gmfa.org.uk/donate.

1 HIV in the United Kingdom: 2013 Report, Public Health England2 HIV in the United Kingdom: 2013 Report, Public Health England3 Estimating the proportion of HIV transmissions from main sex partners among men who have sex with men in five US cities, AIDS (2009)

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No assumptions should be made about the sexuality, HIV status or views of individuals or organisations featured on this website.The information provided on GMFA.org.uk is designed to support, not to replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician.